


Blood so Sweet and Strong

by Drag0nst0rm



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, But uses a lot of the same mythology, Dark Merlin, Gen, Mind Control, Not a Sequel to What We Are Beneath the Moon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-12 19:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10497819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drag0nst0rm/pseuds/Drag0nst0rm
Summary: They say the blood drinkers can pass unseen before the unwary.It would be more accurate to say that they can pass unnoticed, and that if they're powerful enough it won't matter how wary you are.Merlin is very, very powerful.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is NOT a sequel to What We are Beneath the Moon. It is, however, an answer to the repeated request that I write one where Merlin is actually a vampire.
> 
> I do not own Merlin.

When he is born, his eyes are gold.

No one notices, not even his mother. No one thinks it odd that he doesn't cry.

His mother does notice, however, that although he never seems hungry, he is growing very pale. She remembers what Balinor taught her, and she burns the herbs he showed her and rubs the ash beneath her eyes. She sees at last what she has given birth to.

It is hard to get blood, but he doesn't need much. Once he can walk, he gets his own. Their trouble with bandits drops drastically.

His eyes turn red.

No one notices.

 

There is only so long he can hunt bandits. Eventually, word spreads, and Ealdor is left alone.

The traders speak of crowded, crime ridden cities.

Hunith tells Merlin to be safe and sends him to Camelot.

 

What the traders do not say is that the wolf-king of Camelot claims he can sniff out the blood drinkers no matter how powerful they are. The creature staked and beheaded in the courtyard backs this.

The pale and weakened physician does not. Nor does the ward whose eyes are pinkish gold.

Uther looks him straight in the eyes, and Merlin barely breathes.

Uther gives him a job and turns away. Merlin breathes again and has to strangle a laugh.

 

He steals blood from the guards at night and seals the wounds with venom. They let him go where he wills after that.

He wakes Arthur every morning with eyes red as death. Arthur never notices.

Neither does Morgana. Like should recognize like, but Gaius is the only one to ever notice when he moves too fast or heals too quick.

And wouldn't notice if Hunith hadn't written and said.

 

Arthur's enemies are never found. If they were, it would have been noticed that they were bled dry.

Those like him are staked and burned, still never knowing that one of their own had slain them.

The blood of griffins and wyverns sparkles in his veins makes him strong. His eyes become galaxies.

No one notices.

 

The dragon is useful at first, but it quickly grows unhelpful.

Merlin's teeth can cut through anything. Even dragon scales.

The dragon fights at first, but it quietens over time. Even its magic can't hold out for long against his venom.

Merlin's eyes become magnetic, irresistibly beautiful. He doesn't even have to bite the new guards now.

He lets the dragon go eventually. He had promised he would, and it only seems right. It flies off, just as he wills it to, and does no harm to Camelot.

It comes back every night and lets him drink from its veins. The magic in the blood is far too sweet to give up, and its knowledge is far too valuable to let go. Merlin needs to know what the dragon knows if he is to protect Arthur.

 

Merlin considers drinking from Uther, but surely someone would notice if the king was acting strangely. Surely.

And besides, Arthur wouldn't like it.

 

It takes him a while to realize that humans are not like this. Humans care for more than those bound to them by blood or prophecy. 

But those of his kind that he fights are just the same as him, so he is not that unusual among monsters, he thinks.

 

Morgana's eyes turn burning red.

Arthur notices.

Uther doesn't.

 

He wonders, at first, why he cares for some of the knights. Then the dragon tells him the full prophecy and he understands. They are all part of it too.

It is not that he hates those he is not connected to. He simply doesn't care one way or another until they get in his way - or worse, Arthur's. Then his rage wakens, but he doesn't hate them.

He hates Morgana. He hates her because he could have loved her, but she never noticed, and she walked away.

Sometimes he wishes that someone, anyone, would just notice.

 

Arthur and Morgana snarl at each other when they think no one will notice. 

"How can no one else smell it?" he rages to Merlin.

"They're not as strong as you," Merlin says. "And they don't want to see. That's why you'll be a great king, Arthur. You can face the hard truths."

Merlin's eyes gleam with far more than the hopes of this far off future.

Arthur doesn't notice.

 

Uther dies and Morgana is chased off to the wilds of the north. Arthur is almost content to let her stay there until she begins to steal his men. Then, of course, they have to go after her.

It's just him and Merlin, alone in the frozen wastes. There's little to hunt and no privacy to do it. Merlin grows weaker and paler with each passing day.

"What's wrong, the cold too much for your skinny bones?" Arthur asks, insults hiding concern.

"I'm fine," Merlin insists.

For the first time in years, there is a hint of gold in his eyes.

Arthur keeps asking. Merlin keeps deflecting and weakening.

Arthur wants to know. Arthur needs to know. Arthur is prepared to accept any explanation at this point so long as it helps Merlin.

Arthur notices.

Merlin looks up and sees the horrified realization in his eyes and grins weakly. "You going to stake me, Arthur?"

He could do it, Arthur thinks grimly. Merlin's weak enough by now that he could do it. If he can't do it in this form, then the wolf snarling in his rib cage certainly can.

Then Merlin's eyes flick behind him, and Arthur finally smells the scent of another blood drinker and the thralls trailing behind him.

Merlin snarls and lunges forward lightning fast, faster than any wolf or blood drinker Arthur has ever seen before. Faster than even his eyes can follow.

The wolf comes snarling out and Arthur leaps forward, but not at Merlin. Never at Merlin.

The wolf is not so angry after all. Not at one of his pack.

When the battle is over and the snow is stained with blood, Mordred is dead, and Arthur is not quite sure which of them has killed him.

Merlin's eyes swirl with red and black and something that burns like stars, but he bares his throat like a wolf-brother showing submission. 

Arthur shifts back. "So I can face the hard truths, can I?" he said dryly.

"My mother wouldn't have noticed if my father hadn't warned her it might happen," Merlin offers hesitantly. "No one's ever noticed me without prior warning. No one but you." And the magic from old blood is not the only thing shining in his eyes. There's enough trust and loyalty there to put an entire wolf pack to shame.

"Not even Morgana?" 

Merlin shakes his head.

Arthur huffs out a breath. "Alright then. That'll give us an advantage."

"Us?" Merlin checks.

They have fought together side by side. They have nearly died together more times than he can count. The wolf in him is growling, but not at Merlin, he realizes. Not at one of the pack.

"We've come this far together," he tells Merlin. "And we've brothers that need rescuing."

Merlin's eyes shine.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: In case it wasn't clear about the eyes: gold = hungry, red = full on nonmagical blood, anything else = magical blood. The color changing idea was partly from Merlin itself, partly from Twilight, and partly from me to give credit where it's due.


End file.
